Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
| Log in
  1. Follow us on Facebook
  2. Follow us on Instagram
  3. Follow us on Bluesky
  4. Follow us on Goodreads
  5. RSS Feeds

  • Home
  • About
    • Getting Started in CBR17
    • Rules of Respect
    • Cannon Book Club
    • Diversions
    • Fan Mail
    • Holiday Book Exchange
    • Book Bingo Reading Challenge
    • Participation Badges
    • AlabamaPink
    • About Cannonball Read
  • Our Team
    • The CBR Team
    • Leaderboard
    • Recent Comments
    • Participant Interviews
    • Cannonballer Location Maps
    • Our Volunteers
    • Meet MsWas
  • Categories
    • Review Genres
    • Tags
    • Star Ratings
    • Featured Review Archive
  • Fight Cancer
    • How We Fight Cancer
    • Donate
    • CBR Merchandise
  • FAQ
  • Contact
    • Contact Form
    • Suggest a Review
    • 2025 Registration
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Social Media
Cover of The Gilded Ones on a patterned background

“To die is different from what anyone supposed, and luckier”

The Gilded Ones (2021) by Namina Forna

October 31, 2023 by drmllz Leave a Comment

CBR Bingo 15 square Africa, because author Namina Forna was born and raised in Sierra Leone, on the west coast, a former British colony. It was first called Serra Lyoa, or Lion Mountain, because it was first “discovered” by Pedro de Sintra, a Portuguese explorer in the 15th century, who feared lions in the rolling of thunder in the hills around the harbour. I know this because I learned it in school, because when I was little I went to school in said hills, and […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: Africa square, cbr15bingo, drmllz, epic, Namina Forna, ya fantasy

drmllz's CBR15 Review No:12 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: Africa square, cbr15bingo, drmllz, epic, Namina Forna, ya fantasy ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

The Interwebs were correct – these books are great

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

The Merciless Ones by Namina Forna

December 30, 2022 by thegirlwhogotoverit 4 Comments

Once again, I have done as told by the Interwebs, but failed to record which website recommended it.  This was either Vulture or Pajiba, I’d wager.  What an excellent recommendation.  It should be required reading for my whole family (but they never do as they’re told). We meet Deka in the Gilded Ones on the day of her purity test – when all of-age girls are bled to make sure they bleed red, not gold.  If this sounds like some solid gold bullshit to you, […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction Tagged With: Namina Forna

thegirlwhogotoverit's CBR14 Review No:52 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction · Tags: Namina Forna ·
· 4 Comments

A little disappointed in this one.

The Merciless Ones (Deathless, #2) by Namina Forna

October 3, 2022 by narfna Leave a Comment

I’ve been going back and forth, and then back and forth again over whether to round this up to four or down to three stars. I think I’m settling on three stars because the plot made my head swim, and not in a good way. No one but Deka, Ixa, and perhaps Britta get significant development, so I had very little incentive to actually remember who any of them were, which didn’t help with my confusion. This is very different from the first book, where […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Young Adult Tagged With: #fantasy, deathless, Namina Forna, narfna, YA, ya fantasy, Young Adult

narfna's CBR14 Review No:159 · Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult · Tags: #fantasy, deathless, Namina Forna, narfna, YA, ya fantasy, Young Adult ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
The Merciless Ones

“When gods dance, humanity trembles”

The Merciless Ones by Namina Forna

June 8, 2022 by llamareadsbooks Leave a Comment

Completely separate from the book, but can we just talk about what a disappointment the cover is? The cover for The Gilded Ones was fire, but this? I mean, it’s not bad, but it’s nowhere near as great. This was one of my most anticipated sequels of the year, and it didn’t disappoint. Since this is the second book in a trilogy, this review will contain spoilers for the first book. Deka has taken her place as the Nuru, the chosen one of the Gilded […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Young Adult Tagged With: #fantasy, Namina Forna, Young Adult

llamareadsbooks's CBR14 Review No:50 · Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult · Tags: #fantasy, Namina Forna, Young Adult ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Not Quite Golden

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

February 6, 2022 by Claudia Leave a Comment

Ok this one is tough because I am not entirely sure what happened here. There is a lot of caps and exclamation marks and questions in this review. I guess I had some feelings. First, I think an audiobook might have been a mistake because there are points where I am honestly confused about what happened. Yes, I was cleaning while I listened to this but I do that with most audiobooks and am not usually so lost. It felt like multiple plot lines or […]

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: chosen one, Namina Forna

Claudia's CBR14 Review No:17 · Genres: Audiobooks, Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: chosen one, Namina Forna ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Smash the demon lizard patriarchy.

The Gilded Ones (Deathless, #1) by Namina Forna

April 21, 2021 by narfna Leave a Comment

I was really nervous about this one. I wanted so badly to love it. I made the rookie mistake of falling in love with the cover (it’s so pretty!). And I did end up liking it! A lot! I think I want to re-read before I fully pass judgment on it, because my main takeaway right now is that this is an extremely well-written YA fantasy story (written in the first person present POV, and I liked it despite that terrible choice) that does fall […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Young Adult Tagged With: #fantasy, deathless, Namina Forna, narfna, the gilded ones, ya fantasy, Young Adult

narfna's CBR13 Review No:37 · Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult · Tags: #fantasy, deathless, Namina Forna, narfna, the gilded ones, ya fantasy, Young Adult ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »


Recent Comments

  • Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
  • Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
  • Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
  • Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
  • Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.
See More Recent Comments »

Support Our Mission

  • Support Our Mission: Donate Today!
  • FAQ
  • Shop
  • Volunteers
  • Leaderboard
  • AlabamaPink
  • Contact

Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo

The reviews and comments posted on this site reflect the opinions of individual posters and do not reflect the views of Cannonball Read.

© 2025 Cannonball Read Inc., a registered 501(c)(3) | Log in